While laminate and hardwood flooring have experienced greater exposure on home-improvement and home-flipping shows, both experienced sales decreases in 2018, according to Catalina Research. The hardwood market saw sales decrease by 3.7% and the laminate market saw sales decrease by 6.7%. The generally positive outlook for the remodeling market, though, should help both markets rebound in the coming years. Woodworking Network summarized projections from several industry research organizations to provide an outlook on the hardwood flooring and laminate flooring markets in the next few years.
Further advances for laminate flooring may come through material and technology advances, including digital printing and water-resistant products. Laminate flooring may also benefit from the diligent monitoring of imported goods to ensure they meet emission regulations. Of the roughly $11.6 billion of floor coverings imported into the United States in 2018, hardwood flooring accounted for slightly less than $1.5 billion and laminate flooring for about $614.0 million, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Commerce and Catalina Research. Statista projects revenue in the estimated $27.011 billion U.S. floor covering market to grow annually by 0.5% (2019-2023).
In the National Wood Flooring Association’s (NWFA) 2020 Industry Outlook survey, more than 64% of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and contractors forecast an increase in wood flooring demand, with about half predicting a rise between 3-7%, and 14% projecting growth of more than 8%. Nearly a quarter of respondents, however, were pessimistic about 2020.
According to NWFA’s 2020 Industry Outlook survey, wider, longer planks in light colors are trending in wood flooring. White oak continues to be the go-to-species, in part due to its availability. Textures are still in demand, although the survey predicted a decrease in hand-scraped finishes due to their difficulty for cleaning. Gray, natural and other light colors continue to be popular.